A Tayen
by CuriousCelestial
Summary: Tayen is a normal teen that somehow ends up unconscious on a field in the middle of no where, surrounded by strawberry fields. When she wakes up, well, I guess you'll have to read on...
1. Intro

**This is a new story I'm starting, I've had the idea for a while, but never thought to start it on Fanfiction. I have one other story,** _ **Forbidden,**_ **that is currently being re-written, as I didn't like where it was going. I hope you enjoy this and I will be posting the first chapter right after this.**


	2. Chapter 1 - Meet Tayen

I can see a pine tree ahead of me as I squint through the shimmering air. The heat feels suffocating, and I can hear my shallow breathing. This is where I'm supposed to go. I can feel it.

The thing behind me knows it too. The noise gets louder and louder, to the point where I could turn around and whack it on the nose. I don't think I have enough energy to do that though. I just have to focus on getting to that pine tree.

Every step made my head pound. The thing behind me must have been working some voodoo stuff on me, to make me slower and tired. Just. Three. More. Feet.

I cry out as I feel myself drop to the ground. My entire body is numb, and I can't see anything at all. I am completely vulnerable to the monster.

A breath of wind blows across my face, and I realize it's breathing on me. I can feel a claw scratch my cheek and I pass out, knowing I am about to die.

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 **Okay, so here we meet Tayen, the narrator of the story. I'm wondering if i should do narrations of different people, or just Tayen, or have her in third person. Tell me in the comments what you think. I know this is SUPER short, but I will make them longer, trust me. :)**


	3. Chapter 2 - In Which I Turn Into A Log

A boy walked down a moonlit beach, skipping pebbles. He looked about 18 with shaggy black hair and sea-green eyes. He slowly walked away from the shore, heading to an area with a volleyball court and an old farm house. Instead of heading towards the house, he turned so he was walking to a huge pine tree with what looked like a dragon sleeping around it.

As he got closer, a ray of moonlight shone down on a limp figure right on the crest of the hill. The boy ran to the person, seeing that it was a young girl, and picked her up carefully. He checked her pulse, and walked quickly towards the farmhouse with a worried look on his face.

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Mmmmmm. Something warm trickled down my throat. It tasted like warm noodles, with all the slurp included. My head felt like someone stuffed it with cotton balls, and baked it in the oven. I couldn't feel any of my limbs, much less move them. There was an odd murmuring sound that I could hear.

I opened my eyes to see a man with a scruffy beard and a blonde girl that looked about fifteen looking at me. She smiled at me, and I felt like I was looking at an old friend. I struggled to move my mouth, and rasped out as many words as I could.

"Where?... Who?..."

A sound of slow clopping noises filled the room, like a video of a horse trotting was being played and I couldn't see it. As it kept going I realized it was coming from the man as he was pacing the room. Was he on a horse? I couldn't tell.

The blonde smiled again, and this time I could see worry behind it. "My name is Cleo, what's yours?"

It felt as though my skull was squeezing my brain and pulling it at the same time. "Umm.." I stalled as I tried to get my mind to reboot itself.

"Tayen!" I exclaimed as I remembered, "My name is Tayen."

The odd man gave Cleo a glance that looked like trouble. "We have to go, Cleo, now."

Cleo looked at me apologetically as she rushed out the door. "Sorry, I have to go! It's really important.. Stay in bed! Eat the things next to your bed! Doctors orders!" And with that, she ran out of the room with the man behind her and shut the door.

Doctors orders? She couldn't be an actual doctor, could she?

Now that I was alone, I studied the room that I was in. It had blue walls and it looked very old, with the the paint peeling and the old fashioned furniture. Next to the bed I was laying in was a table with what looked like little bread squares on a plate, and a cup.

I peered suspiciously into the glass. It was filled with a golden liquid, and smelled odd. Taking a careful sip, I tasted the mysterious liquid.

Oh. Wow.

The drink tasted like hot cocoa after coming from in a day of intense skiing. It warmed me to the core, waking up my numb limbs and leaving a sweet aftertaste. It was the soothing warm feeling that woke me up.

I eyed the little squares on the table, hoping for them to be a delicious as the liquid. When I picked one up, it felt soft and crumbly in my hand. I closed my eyes as I put it in my mouth so I could taste it better.

I was not disappointed by the drink's counterpart. Despite having the texture of crumbly bread, the food was as cool and smooth as ice as I swallowed it. The taste reminded me exactly of when I visited Italy with, someone... We had gelato, and it tasted exactly like this, I think. Trying to remember made my head hurt all over again.

I wiggled my toes, and even though it was against the "doctor's" orders, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Time to figure out what I was doing here.

As I headed to the door and reached for the knob, it swung open without my help. There stood Cleo, who immediately put on a stern face and walked me back towards bed.

"You can't get out of bed, I'm sorry. You need rest! After a good night's sleep you will be able to get up, and then Chiron will give you the intro, hopefully." She chewed her lip. "Stay in bed, you have too!"

Before I could get a word in she sat me down in bed, almost ran out of the room, and clicked the lock behind her.

Great. Locked in my room like a little kid. I sulked there for a moment before crawling into bed and laying there like a dead log. Woo.

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 **Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for all the reviews and positive comments. I love knowing at least someone out there likes my writing. In this chapter we start seeing some of Tayen's attitude, which somewhat reflects my own. :) I will try to upload tomorrow, which happens to be in about ten minutes :)**


	4. Chapter 3 - Never Trust Me With A Paddle

**Last chapter was a bit short, I'll try to make this one longer. :) Sorry for not uploading sooner, I had a small case of writer's block.**

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I woke up with the sun streaming through the window above my bed. I hadn't even realized I had gone to sleep until I woke up.

I quickly looked around the room. It was empty, but the plate and the cup were gone from the small table beside my bed. That meant someone had been here while I was sleeping, and they might have left the door unlocked.

I got out of bed, my legs wobbling slightly. Oddly, I was wearing clothes that I didn't recognize. At least I was wearing something.

I made my way towards the door and successfully turned the handle. Apparently Cleo, or someone else, had forgotten to lock the door. I smiled. Their fault!

Quietly sneaking out of the room, I looked around for an exit. The building I was in certainly didn't look like a prison, but it sure felt like it. The decor was odd, with swords hung on the walls and stone busts of people everywhere. I shuddered. Creepy.

The room that I was in had a window on the other side. I ran over to it, dodging the piles of weird art. The window I had spotted faced towards the ocean. Perfect place to get out with no one noticing. Another great thing; it was dark out. I felt like someone had set up the perfect escape for me, that is, if I didn't mess it up.

It was pretty easy for me to shimmy out the window. I was pretty thin for my age, and tall too. I went through feet first and landed awkwardly on the other side. The ground was lower than I expected.

I ran quickly away from the weird building, keeping low to the ground. Ahead of me the waves slowly crashed onto the shore. Was there a boat anywhere?

As I kept moving my foot caught on something and I fell face first into the ground. I could feel twigs poking into my stomach as I groaned softly. I got up and saw that I had tripped over a bush. Seriously?

Now cursing the darkness, I made sure to look down at my feet when I was walking, straining my eyes to see.

I got to the beach and felt sand trickling into my shoes. Great, that's gonna bug me for a while. A blurry shape down the beach caught my eye. It was flat and extended into the water. I grinned. Where a dock was, a boat could be found.

As I awkwardly walked down the beach, loosing my footholds every second and getting sand everywhere, I noticed that I could see better. The night was slightly illuminated by a silvery light that made everything look mystical. I looked up and realized that the moon had come out from behind a cloud.

I reached the dock after a bit more tripping and climbed onto the old boards, getting a few splinters in the process. Just my luck, there was a small boat tied to the end of the dock. Thankfully I knew a little about sailing, somehow. I felt like someone had taught me when I was younger.

I untied the rope from the dock and threw it into the boat. The name on the side of the boards caught my eye as I was stepping into the tiny dinghy. _Pax II_ was painted in blue, with an eye next to it. Creepy, like everything else here.

The eye spooked me so much I thought about finding another boat, but it was just the weird atmosphere talking. I climbed in, grabbed an oar, and began paddling quietly. I had no idea where I was going, I just had to get away from that creepy place.

A few minutes later the dock was out of sight and I was paddling down what I assumed to be some kind of bay or sound. The other shore was a hazy horizon but it was getting closer and closer, so I assumed I was heading inland.

 _Thump. Thump._ I froze. Was something knocking on my boat? There couldn't be sharks in this shallow water… I stopped rowing and looked down at the water. A dark shape circled my tiny boat, never surfacing.

It had to be a shark. I read that they circled their prey before they attacked. Oh god.

The next time it circled around, I was going to hit it. The peaceful moonlit water suddenly scared me. What else could be hiding in it's depths?

I saw the shark turn in the corner of my eye, and I raised my paddle to get ready. As it came closer I clenched my teeth and swung.

Before I hit, the shape stopped, and a face with shaggy black hair popped out of the water. My eyes widened, but before I could stop, the paddle hit full force and knocked the _human_ right on the head. It crumpled, and soon the figure disappeared from sight.

Oh no. Had I just inadvertently drowned someone? Panicking, I thrust my paddle into the water to see how deep it was. It never touched. Oooooooh no. I was really starting to freak out. Even if I did save them what would I do? Paddle to a shore and leave them there? Take them with me? They probably would need medical help. CPR?

Oh screw this. I set down the paddle and jumped into the water.

The water burned my eyes as I swam down through the murky water. A limp figure lay on the sand far below…. Swimming as hard as I could, I grabbed the male figure by the shirt and swam up. My lungs started burning, begging for air. The surface seemed so close… I reached my hand upward and felt air. Giving one last kick, I reached the surface and took a deep breath. My heart was racing and I told myself I was never saving anyone from drowning ever again.

Doggy paddling, I dragged the heavy body through the water and over to the _Pax II_ , keeping the person's face above water. I flung his torso over the side of the boat, making sure he stayed there. I swam over to the other side of the boat and got in, making sure it didn't tip.

As I pulled the extremely heavy and limp figure onto the boat I noticed something odd. None of his clothes were wet. Even the odd cord around his neck felt dry. We had both just been submerged under water, him more than me, and no part of him was wet. How was that even possible? I was too tired from swimming and dragging an unconscious guy too care. I lay down in the boat with my head against the side and fell asleep exhausted.

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 **Welp that was Chapter 2, where we meet a black, shaggy haired boy with a cord around his neck. Wonder who that could be? BTW I am a huge Percabeth shipper, so they will stay together, but there won't be much mention of any of the eight except for the beginning and tiny little tidbits here and there.**

 **I am going to a summer camp this week where no electronics of any kind are allowed, so I won't be posting for a week. I'm sorry, but I finished this chapter just in time so you wouldn't have to wait extra long. I will be writing on pencil and paper there and will copy it onto a document when I get home, so expect a story soon after next next Monday. :)**


	5. Chapter 4 - Swordy Stuff

**Wow, it feels really odd to write to you all in pencil and not typing. I'm writing this on Monday, during FOB. (Flat On Bunk) It's an hour of writing time, so I will get some good writing done. Enjoy!**

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I woke up to the sound of waves lapping against the tiny boat. Opening my eyes a tiny bit, I saw the person I-may-or-may-not-have-almost-drowned was still asleep. Or, he was faking it, which meant he didn't trust me. Great.

I scolded myself. Don't be paranoid, he's probably just really tired from swallowing a gallon of water.

We were no where near I had fallen asleep, so we probably had gotten washed down stream a bit. There were no buildings on the closest shore, including the freaky house. I shuddered. I'm surprised I didn't have any nightmares of that place.

I glanced at the unconscious guy. His hair was parted to the side, revealing a giant green and purple welt on his forehead. I winced just looking at that. No one should ever trust me with a paddle.

Around his neck was the cord I had noticed earlier. As I examined it closer, It seemed to had multi-colored beads and a couple of seashells. All of the beads were odd, one with a trident set on a dark blue background. Another one that intrigued her was names engraved on a purple and orange background. In the middle where the colors met, there was a tiny greek temple.

The trident and the temple sparked my interest. Both from Ancient Greek mythology. Hmm, maybe he was a fan of mythology? And wore beads on his neck….

I realized I was basically looking through someone's personal things while they were unconscious, and even at that point I wasn't going to be rude. I backed away from the guy and picked up the oar. Might as well start paddling to shore.

About a minute or so had passed before the guy in front of me groaned and open his eyes. The moment he saw me and realized he was in a paddle boat in deep water, he shot up. Before I realized what was happening, he had a gleaming bronze sword in his hand and was pointing it directly at me.

I basically freaked out at that point. I mean, I had gone through a lot in the past 24 hours. Where did his sword even come from? So when some guy I don't even know threatens me with a scary looking pointy thing, I snap.

"You- You're from that creepy place aren't you?" I asked. I must have looked completely terrified and horrible at that point. Look, I slept in dingy that night.

Recognition flashed across his face, and I didn't wait for an answer. I dove into the water and frantically swam for my life.

Water splashed in my eyes as I swam to what I hoped was the shore. Swordy Dude looked pretty athletic, and I did not want him to catch me.

I looked behind me quickly to see how close he was to me. Oddly, he hadn't moved an inch. I felt less safe with him not chasing me than if he was. I had to get out of the water, fast.

Something grabbed me by my foot from under the water, and I immediately started to flail, trying to get free. Despite my kicking and deafening screams, what ever had my ankle quickly pulled me brackish water stung my my open eyes, and I choked on a mouthful of water I had accidentally swallowed.

I was pulled farther and farther down into what could possibly be my watery grave. The dark water blocked out the sunlight, making it more difficult to identify what was forcefully dragging me down.

My lungs started to feel as though they were about to explode, and I knew I had only seconds before my instinct took over my willpower.

The murky bottom appeared showing nothing but me, the water, and the sand. What had my foot? I was still kicking, but I was getting tired and almost out of air. I landed on the bottom and I quickly sunk into the muck that lined the dirt and sand. A cloud of dust rose, blocking my vision.

Bright spots danced around my eyesight as my brain tried to function with little air. I felt the pressure on my lungs tighten and tighten. Almost blind in the dust and the darkness, I couldn't hold out any longer. The thing holding my ankle released me as I took a deep breath of water.

I immediately started choking and breathing through my nose as my body coughed all the dirty water out of my lungs. My eyes were watering and I was gasping for breath. Once I had recovered from my fit I realised that I was doing the impossible.

I was breathing. Underwater.

Hesitantly, I moved my hand through the water. It wasn't there anymore. All around me in a circle was a warped view of the water and the cloudy bottom. It was like I was looking at it through a thick piece of glass, or…

A bubble. I was in a giant air bubble underwater. I hesitantly tapped the side of the bubble. It didn't pop, or move. Instead of tapping, I pushed. Hard. Again, the bubble didn't move. I was trapped.

As I sat there pounding on the giant air bubble, a dark shape in front of me slowly grew into the Swordy Guy. He looked at peace and wasn't even holding his breath. Jerk. I bet he had something to do with this water voodoo.

I crossed my arms and tried to look intimidating. His sword was nowhere to be found, which was good, but I had seen it appear out of nowhere. Who said he couldn't do that again?

As he reached the side of the bubble, he looked directly at me. I refused to break eye contact. No way I was letting this guy think he had control over me. Once he saw I was looking, he gave me a thumbs up and stepped into the bubble.

First, thumbs up!? Dude, you just came after me with a sword and trapped me underwater in a giant air bubble, and you give me a _thumbs up!_ Second, how did you even get in the bubble. Come on!

I instinctively backed as far away from him as I could, without uncrossing my arms and without dropping my death glare. If he got any closer to me I was going to punch him in the face.

He sat down criss-cross applesauce on the wet sand casually. "So I'm guessing you don't know who I am?"

No way I was answering him. If he thought I was going to be cooperative and smiley he had another one coming.

"Umm, I'll take that as a no. My name is Percy Jackson. I'm the one that found you." He said, with a frown.

Found me? What was he talking about? A bunch of questions raced through my mind, but I still said nothing.

"Look, I found you outside of the borders unconscious, and brought you into camp. You could see my sword, obviously, so you can see through the Mist. You must be a demi-god."

Camp? Mist? Demi-god? Who was this guy, really?

"Do you know anything about Greek mythology?" He finally asked me after a few tense seconds.

I figured it would probably be smart to actually answer him at this point, but if you haven't figured out at this point, I'm pretty stubborn. I can sometimes get myself into trouble because of it. Of course, my ox-headedness kept my mouth shut and my arms crossed.

"Okay fine, I'm just gonna take you back to camp. I can at least tell Annabeth I tried."

At this point I had figured out that "camp" was that creepy cabin I has escaped from, or the house was a part of it. I had no desire to go anywhere near it.

"No," I said finally, "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on, what that place is, and how you're doing all…. this." I motioned to the walls of the bubble.

Percy looked surprised that I spoke. "I'm trying but you need to answer my questions."

I nodded.

"So, do you know about Greek mythology?" he asked again.

"Most of it, yeah." I wasn't liking how the conversation was going. All this Greek stuff…

"So you about the Olympians, you know, Poseidon, Athena….." He glanced nervously upwards, like he had said something bad.

I nodded again. I wasn't going to talk if I just needed to say yes.

"Well, you're a demi-god. Or a half blood. A child of a mortal and a Greek god or goddess."

What had I gotten myself into?

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 **Well, a little cliffhanger there because everyone loves them. :) Especially Rick Riordan! So some dialogue between Percy and Tayen. I'm not very good at dialogue, but I tried. I had fun at camp, but now that I'm back I will be updating more frequently, hopefully. (I'm a bit of a forgetter and a procrastinator, so if I haven't updated in a week feel free to spam me. :) Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Chapter 5 - I Really Hate Guys

**I've known about it for weeks, but can we just take a moment to praise Magnus Chase! The first chapter is online, just search sword of summer 1st chapter. I CANNOT wait for October, and I'm especially excited because I live close to Fairfax VA, where one of his book signings will be! Udbdnslslsmsmsnbebdbdnd. - me thinking about the Sword of Summer. :) Also, go onto Youtube and search Nico's Lullaby. The feels are real.**

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I stared at Percy. He was looking at me with a face of complete honesty. Was he so crazy that he actually believed this madness?

"Are you dyslexic? Do you have ADHD?" he asked. After I nodded, he continued, "Your brain is hardwired for Ancient Greek, and your hyperactive brain is helpful in battles."

I figured that if I played along with this, it would be safer, and I might have a better chance to get out of this roller coaster bubble ride.

But how was he doing this bubble thing? Was there some cool science trick that could do this? I didn't understand…

"I'm a son of Poseidon," Percy said, "that's why I can control the water."

Poseidon. That rang a bell. He was the god of the ocean. That would explain why Percy can do these water tricks… if Poseidon was even real! I still couldn't get over the fact that he actually thought I believed him. I mean, he was talking about _myths!_ Not true stories!

"I can still see you don't believe me." He took a knife out of his pocket. I got scared again, thinking he was about to murder me or something. Instead, he cut a long line down his arm, which started bleeding badly.

"Oh my gosh," I stammered, "why did you do that? You're bleeding!" I took a step towards him to help, and then realized he was at least five years older than me, had a knife, and was crazy. Awkwardly, I moved back to where I was. The amazingly dry sand seeped into my tennis shoes.

Percy had a look of pain on his face, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Actually, I could. No feelings of pity what-so-ever. Whenever he looked at the water at a certain angle, the ripples made his eyes flash.

A long shiny thing broke through the bubble, and I screamed. I thought it was a snake, or some long animal. Instead, as it grew longer, I realized that it was water. A hovering, rope-like, moving thing of water. It wasn't even touching anything. Maybe science could create a bubble, but not this.

The water kept growing in the direction of Percy, and it quickly reached his outstretched arm. His cut was angled towards me, and little droplets of blood kept falling and hitting the ground. The moment the floating water touched his skin, it kept going. A thin layer of water skimmed up his arm, and once it covered his cut, the entire thing dropped to the ground.

When I looked back up at Percy, his cut was still angled towards me. Except, it wasn't. The cut was gone. There wasn't even a scar, or leftover blood. I looked back down at the sand, where the blood had dripped off of his arm. Even that was gone, washed away by the water like the cut itself.

Oh.

Percy looked at me, as if checking I hadn't freaked out or fainted. I just stood there looking at his arm for any trace of the cut that had to be real. A little voice in my mind whispered the words I didn't want to hear. _Maybe he isn't lying. Maybe there are actually Greek gods. Maybe you might even be a child of one of them._

Even though I really didn't want to listen to that voice, it was the most logical thing to believe. Wow, I never thought I would say that believing in Greek gods is _logical._

I closed my mouth, which I hadn't even realized was hanging open. I had so many questions, unfortunately, I was too shocked to form coherent words.

Percy looked at me oddly, like he suddenly noticed something odd about me. "Why were we in that boat in the first place?"

I blushed, my embarrassment making me forget I had just accepted that Greek gods existed. It's funny the things whacking people with oars can make you forget.

"I, um, well. You were swimming around my boat, and I thought you were a shark or something…" My voice got lower and quieter as I went on, eventually mumbling. "And, I kinda hit you hard on the head with an oar. And then I dove into the water to save you once I realized you were actually human."

He just kinda stared at me for a moment.

"Hey!" I said defensively, "I was having an off day!"

He cracked a smile, which annoyed me even more. "That explains why my head hurts."

I hated having to give into this guy, who was much older than me. I always thought of myself as tough and stubborn, and giving into things made me mad. When someone finds it _funny_ when I'm mad just makes me want to punch someone. Specifically, them.

I crossed my arms giving him another glare. This guy annoyed me _so_ much.

"You know," Percy said, "you didn't need to save me from drowning. I can breathe underwater. It's part of my powers."

"Of course you can," I muttered, "just my luck. I almost drowned saving a person _that can't drown._ Someone should give my the irony award of the year."

Again, Percy chuckled at my anger. The ticking time bomb inside of me finally hit zero, and my temper went through the bubble roof.

"YOU ARE SO INSUFFERABLE!" I yelled at him, moving towards him. My hands were flying, pointing at him angrily, almost smacking him in the face. It should have been silly to watch. A thirteen year-old girl going after a college aged guy with nothing but her words and hands, yet Percy backed away from me with his hands in a "chill gesture".

"Whoa, calm down!" Percy said, still backing up.

That was the last straw. Telling me to _calm down._ Never, EVER, tell me to calm down.

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN, AND DON'T YOU EVER THINK YOU CAN MAKE ME!" I screamed, "YOU JUST TRAP ME IN A BUBBLE, TELL ME GREEK MYTHOLOGY IS REAL, LAUGH AT ME, AND THEN TELL ME TO _CALM DOWN?"_

Percy reached the edge of the bubble, and he slipped through, escaping safely from my yelling. I banged my fist on the wobbly bubble, screaming my head off and yelling at Percy. I admit now, it was a little much, but every one has to let out a little steam every once and a while, right? I just had a bit more steam than usual.

Outside the bubble, Percy looked at me kind of sadly, like he actually cared that he had trapped me in a giant bubble. I wonder why that could be?

The bubble started to rise, making me slip around as my feet left solid ground. Of course, this made me even angrier. Who did he think he was, just moving me around like he could tell me where to go? Again, the lack of control make me shout not-so-nice things at Percy. I'm sure if I had been in school while doing this, I would have been suspended in a heartbeat.

The bubble kept rising until it finally reached the surface and popped, making me free at last. Percy was sitting in the boat, waiting for me to get on. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of him thinking I depended on him and his magic water powers.

I started swimming towards the shore, not looking back to see what Percy was doing. It wasn't a fast, frantic swim like before, more like a steady, strong swim that got you to where you were going. I was a bit farther than halfway there when I saw the tiny boat through my peripheral vision. As it came side to side with me, I could see the eye and the painted _Pax II_ on the side. Percy wasn't even paddling, probably using his magic powers. Again. Did he use them to eat?

"What are you doing?" he asked me. I could barely hear him over the splashing of the water.

"Swimming to shore," I said, like it was perfectly normal for me to do so. Which, of course, it was.

Percy said nothing more. I got to shore quickly, not even feeling tired, which was odd. Maybe it was my adrenaline, fueling my body and telling it to keep going.

I climbed onto the dirt and grass, my clothes dripping wet and clinging to my skin. Percy climbed out of the dingy, his clothes perfectly dry, just like yesterday.

I started walking in the direction that I thought was the weird house. I understood some of it now, and I knew I probably needed to go there. I wasn't walking, swimming, or rowing anywhere with Percy, however.

He ran up to me and stood in my path. I walked past him, shoving him out of the way slightly. From behind me he called, "We need to take the boat, it will be faster."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." I said harshly, hoping I made him mad. At least not amused.

When I kept walking and made no sign of turning around, Percy ran in front of me again. He looked confused, as if he was finally realizing I was serious. I was about to make some comment about how he should just leave me alone and go wherever when a voice called from behind us.

A boy that looked around my age stood there. He was wearing all black clothes, and the light around him seemed dim, like his darkness was infecting the air.  
"Percy, I'm glad I found you. Chiron found the boat gone and we all assumed something happened to you. Annabeth is worried sick."

Percy looked horrified. "Oh gods, Annabeth… We have to leave, now."

Before I could interrupt the conversation and ask what was going on, Percy grabbed my hand. I didn't even have time to yank out of his grip and make some insult about guys before darkness overwhelmed me.

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 **I hope you all enjoyed the fifth chapter, where some things start to happen! Lol. :) I want to take a moment to say that every review helps, and every follow helps. Even if you have already reviewed once, tell me what you thought of a different chapter. Reviewing doesn't bother me, it makes me feel better. I want ALL of your feedback, and give me some suggestions for the story too. :)**

 **PS You all must know now I suck at updating more than once a week, but I will try for you all. :)**


	7. Chapter 6 - The Doe and The Dog

**Well, in this chapter we meet Nico and Annabeth. (kind of) Nico is one of my favorite characters in BoO, he just feels real to me. :) Also, I do go through and edit my chapters, but I post them first. So, if you see any errors, review, and i will update the chapter. :)**

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I felt wind whipping through my hair, and my wet clothes getting blow-dried instantly. Percy's hand started sliding out of my grip, and I realized I was scared off letting go. The dark was suffocating, and it was everywhere. I couldn't see anything, and while I wasn't scared of the dark, I wished there was some light. It was freezing, and I wished my hands were free so I could rub my arms.

I felt ground underneath my feet and bright light shone through my eyelids. I hadn't even realized I closed my eyes.

When I opened them I was standing in an unfamiliar forest. There were stone thrones near us, covered in vines and shrubs. The trees above us cast shadows down at the ground, making the thrones look creepy and mysterious.

The guy wearing all black was already walking away, with Percy right behind them. "Hey!" I called back, starting to jog towards them. "What the heck? Someone tell me what is going on?"

Neither of them answered me, so I ran in front of them, making them slow down and actually see me. "We just teleported or something, and you say nothing? What was that?"

The guy in black stopped and looked at me with a guarded expression. "My name is Nico, you just shadow traveled." He looked up at Percy, and I couldn't see either of their faces.

Percy didn't even slow down. "Just follow us."

We had reached the tree line and were about to leave the meadow that the odd thrones were in. I wasn't going to follow anybody if they were going to be rude and pushy. Percy and Nico kept walking, but I stayed still. They didn't even look back to see if I was coming.

I turned around and headed into what looked like a deeper and darker part of the forest. Odd animal tracks covered the ground, making me wonder what odd things lived here. The trees were beautiful. Their bark was old and worn down, and they were tall and magnificent. I felt like I was in a magical place.

The light shone golden through the leaves and reflected off a nearby creek, making everything look like something from a storybook. When I looked at the sun through the trees, it was low in the sky, almost at sunset.

I felt so at home in forest, like nothing could hurt me while I was under the trees. When I walked around a tree, I spotted a doe standing in a clearing. The fading sunlight illuminated every line on it's body, and it's fur glowed. I walked towards it, transfixed. It was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen.

It didn't move or run away, even as I got near. The closer I got, every feeling of doubt and common sense faded away. This animal wouldn't hurt me. I could just tell.

Soon I was right up to the doe. It was much smaller than I expected, around three feet tall. It raised it's head up, looking straight up at me.

Hesitantly, I lifted my hand up and placed on top of the doe's head. It was extremely soft, and I moved my hand to pet the back of her neck. I was completely in wonderland, petting a deer in a mystical forest in a beautiful sunset. It was picture-perfect. I soon forgot all about my anger at Percy and his arrogant actions.

I kept petting the deer, even when it got completely dark. Even though it was hard to see, I didn't want to leave.

Unfortunately, the doe felt different. It's ears perked up, and it's tail flew straight up into the air, revealing a bushy white fluff of fur. The beautiful doe ran off, leaving me in the dark and suddenly scared. I heard a twig crack behind me, and I ran, not caring to even look behind me. I was lost, with no sense of where I was or how I got there.

I ran into a clearing, one I didn't recognize from walking around before. I slowed down, and turned around, looking for what I hoped wasn't chasing me. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to get away that easy.

A horrible monster entered the clearing, and I could see all of it's terrifying details.

It looked like a giant hound dog, and it was snarling aggressively. Slobber was falling from its giant jaws that looked certainly big enough to eat me in one bite.

I backed away slowly, having nothing to put my back too. The hound advanced, it's beady eyes focusing on me the entire time. I felt no longer safe, especially when I moved back under the trees, blocking out the moonlight.

An animalistic voice ran through my head, like I was reading something and it sounded out in my head. "Hello little fox. You aren't my usual target, but nothing escapes me."

I desperately thought of all the Greek mythology I read, searching for any mention of a giant hound. The words fox and hound rang a bell. There was a Greek myth that a fox that could never be caught, the Teumessian fox, was hunted by the Laelaps, a hound dog that's prey could never get away.

So I was being hunted by a creature destined to catch all of it's prey. I was doomed to die.

I kept backing up until I reached a huge tree. I put my back against it, and picked up a good sized looking branch from the forest floor. The Laelaps said nothing more but kept stalking towards me.

When it got within ten feet or so, and it realized i wasn't moving, it barked. The sound made my heart clench and fear. It ran towards me, and I raised my arm over my face. There was nothing I could do.

A horrible pain erupted in my raised arm, and I didn't have to open my eyes to know what happened. It had sunk it's canine fangs into my arm. I pushed with all my might at the unseen enemy in front of me. An even more painful feeling came from where the tooth must have been in my arm. I opened my eyes too see the hound stumbling away, with it's tooth still lodged in my forearm.

I had an advantage. The hound was scared of me. I might as well go down fighting, and inflict as much damage as possible on the beastly monster. I ran at it, letting loose a battle cry, forgetting the excruciating pain in my arm.

The hound backed away whimpering, golden liquid spilling out of it's mouth. When I got close enough to it, I jumped up in the air, higher than should be possible. My feet landed on it's forehead at an angle. When I hit, my impact was enough to push it back into the meadow.

I fell out of the air and landed on my leg. Hard. My head hit a tree root, turning my vision to black for a few seconds. I reached up and felt my head. There was a sticky liquid clinging to my hair. I could imagine the shade of blood matching perfectly with my hair color.

I looked up, expecting to see the hound running at me again, but I didn't see it anywhere. I got up, watching my bad arm, which was also dripping with blood. My head was spinning, and it it took all my physical and mental effort to stay standing.

It took me a moment to realize what was right in front of me. A giant stone statue of a…. hound. The monster had been turned completely to stone. The moonlight glinted coldly off of the gray stone. Whatever gods were up there, I had someone to thank.

The rest of the myth came back to me. Zeus had turned the fox and the hound into stone to end the impossible hunt. Did Zeus do it again? Was Zeus even real?

Thunder rolled through the sky, even though the skies looked clear.

I had other things to worry about. My leg felt like jello, my head like stone, and my arm like one giant ball of pure pain. Yeah, really great describing, huh?

I hobbled in a random direction, hoping I could get to civilization before some other crazy monster came to bite my other body parts off. My head was spinning and I was surprised I had even made it one step.

I some how made it back to clearing with the odd thrones. I couldn't take another step, so I just fell. I crumpled on the soft grass, hoping someone would find me. I passed out, welcoming the cold darkness.

I woke up to a face hovering right above mine. It was a female, and her blonde hair tickled my face.

"Percy," she said, "what did you do?"

The unwelcome pain came back, and I couldn't move anything. So, naturally, I passed out again.

* * *

 **Well, that was my first monster battle, ish. We kind of meet Annabeth, if you count deliriously seeing her for only seconds as meeting someone. So, who do you all think is Tayen's godly parent? There are a few hints, one being really obscure, but if you figure it out, it gives everything away. There are also some red herrings too. :) I hope you all enjoyed my abnormally early update. I have an irl reader that was pestering me. :)**


	8. Chapter 7 - Deja Vu

**Most of the guys in this story are going to seem like jerks, because that's how Tayen sees them. Just gonna let you know now. :)**

* * *

I woke up in a familiar room, laying in a familiar bed. Cleo was sitting in a chair that hadn't been there last time, looking at me.

I groaned, and sat up, using my good arm. "I feel like I live here."

Cleo smiled. "How are you feeling?"

I inspected the damage the hound had made. My arm and my head was bandaged. When I reached down and felt my leg, it was splinted. "Worse than I look," I responded.

Before Cleo could say anything else, the door opened. The man I had seen before, in this exact room entered. Talk about Deja vu.

He gave Cleo a stern look, and she quickly scampered out of the room. He seemed much shorter than when I had seen him last. As he moved more into the room, I saw that he was seated in a wheelchair. What happened to him?

He wheeled over to the chair, and parked right next to it. This man gave me a feeling of uneasiness. There was something that he was hiding "Hello," he started, "Per-"

I interrupted him. "Who are you?"

He sighed. "My name is Chiron."

That rang a bell. "Chiron, like the centaur from Greek mythology?"

He nodded. "Let me show you."

He touched something on his wheelchair, and moved the blanket laying on his legs away. I couldn't process what I was seeing at first. His legs stayed where they were as he lifted his torso further and further upwards. The lower half of a horse stepped out of what I assumed to be a magical wheelchair compartment. My eyes trailed all the way up to where skin mixed with milky white hair.

The man I had just seen sitting in a wheelchair like a normal human was actually a centaur. To be exact, the thousands of years old Chiron, the original trainer of heroes.

I took this all really well, I mean, I had just seen a giant telepathic hound turn to stone in the middle of a forest. Things like centaurs didn't really phase me anymore.

I blurted out a question I had been thinking about for a while, almost from the second Percy had revealed the truth in that bubble. I hadn't really even thought about one of my parents being a god, until now. "Who is my parent?"

Instead of answering, or even thinking about an answer, Chiron frowned and said something unexpected. "You said parent. Do you not know if you are missing a mother or a father?" They way he said it made me uneasy, like he already knew the answer.

"Well, um," I said, "I don't really know. I can't remember anything before waking up here."

Chiron looked at her closely. "Child, it never concerned you that you that you were missing all of your memories?"

I didn't really think about what I said next. I don't even know where it came from. It was like someone else had planted a response on my lips and told me it was mine. Even though I knew it wasn't.

"You can't miss what you never had."

Something flashed across Chiron's face. An emotion I couldn't read. I was pretty good at knowing what others were feeling. I felt, however, that Chiron has lots of experience hiding things from people.

He leaned back saying nothing about my odd remark. "Well, I don't know who your godly parent is. A have a few guesses, but that's all they are."

I nodded, having nothing else to say.

"What is your name?" Chiron asked.

It was a little off topic, but I realized no one knew my name here. I was a complete stranger, and they had made sure I was safe and brought me back here. What worth was I to them? What did they need me for?

"Tayen," I replied, "I know that for sure."

Again, a ghost of emotion raced across his face. I couldn't tell what it was, but he was hiding his thoughts for a reason. He knew something, and didn't want me to know.

I arched an eyebrow and crossed my arms, clearly showing what I thought about him. He obviously understood, because he walked over to the door and opened it. "I will have someone show you the camp when you are ready. We will talk about what happened in the forest later." He left before I could answer.

I blushed, something I hated doing. Unfortunately, it was involuntary. He made it sound like I was in trouble for what happened with the hound.

Cleo came scampering in right after the swishy tail of Chiron was gone. She was carrying another tray of those little cubes, and I was anxious to have another taste.

"Here," she said, handing me a few, "eat these."

I gladly shoved a few in my mouth, and I could immediately taste the cold gelato filling me. How they got it to taste like that, I had no idea.

The cold energized me, and anxious to get out of bed, I swung my legs over the side. Cleo helped me up this time, instead of telling to lie back down. Either she had learned her lesson on telling me what to do, or I was just allowed to get out of bed. I was pretty sure it was the first option.

I was dressed in what I had been wearing when I woke up the first time in that room. I looked at Cleo. "Do you have any change of clothes?"

She nodded. "Just wait here."

I waited for a few minutes before Cleo came back with an orange t-shirt and some normal shorts.

The shirt had Camp Half-Blood written on it, and the black silhouette of what looked like a pegasus. Half-Blood, as in half god. Was this actually a camp for demigods?

Cleo showed me to a bathroom without saying a word. I quickly changed and left the bathroom.

As I shut the door, Cleo handed me another article of clothing. It was a brown leather jacket, stopping at around my belly button. It was dark green around the shoulder, and a strip around the waist. I took it, automatically putting it on.

Cleo finally spoke, slightly diffusing the awkward moment. "Percy found you laying on Half-Blood hill, wearing that and passed out cold."

I stiffened at the mention of Percy's name. "Percy found me?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I heard he found you when you left the camp."

"He didn't exactly find me. I knocked him on the head with a paddle, and he trapped me in an underwater bubble." I said.

Cleo frowned, sticking her bottom lip out. "Well why did you do that?" She seemed oblivious to the fact of him _trapping me in a bubble._

I stared at her. "He's a jerk. Let's leave it at that. Just take me where I'm supposed to be going."

"Oh, right." Cleo seemed disappointed that I wasn't going to talk more about Percy. I was starting to like this blonde less and less.

We went through a door that led out to a porch. The sunlight burned my eyes, and I tried to blink the tears out of my eyes. When the brightness subsided a little bit, I was able to see the odd scene in front of me. In the distance, I could see an odd assortment of cabins, all decorated differently. A dangerous looking climbing wall was spewing lava.  
My mouth hung open as I tried to take in everything around me. It had to be the weirdest place I had I had ever been to.

In the distance, I could see a small lake, and behind it, the sound I had been in earlier. I must have walked past all of the odd cabins in the dark without realizing it. To the left, there was a giant field of plants with dots of red. I couldn't tell what fruit it was from there, but I could smell the fresh juice.

A dark spot on the horizon caught my eye. It was the forest I had most likely gotten lost in. The trees seemed to suck all the light from the sky around it. No doubt there were other nasty creatures hiding in the undergrowth.

A voice pulled me out of my thoughts. It wasn't Cleo's, her voice was much higher. "I'm here to show you around camp."

Glancing around, I saw a girl standing in front of the porch steps. She had brown hair pulled up into a ponytail and had light brown eyes that bore into me. I had the feeling she was sizing me up, guessing whether I was tough enough for her, or about to break down any moment. Her skin was a dark tan, something I could only dream of with my pale complexion. She seemed around my age, but I couldn't tell for sure.

I looked back at Cleo, who did not look happy. "Excuse me Eli, but I've already started to show her around."

Eli. That must be the girl's name.

"Well," Eli responded, turning to me, "can you tell me what this building is then?"

I shook my head, not wanting to lie. Cleo blushed a bright pink, giving me a glare.

Eli grinned. "Well…"

There was a moment of awkwardness of her giving me a pointed look before I realized she wanted my name. "Oh!" I said, slightly embarrassed. "My name is Tayen."

"Right, well Tayen, this is the Big House." Eli motioned towards herself, telling me to follow. "Let me show you the rest of the camp!"

I walked down the porch steps, leaving a huffing Cleo behind me. Eli started walking away from the Big House, as she called it. As soon as we were out of earshot, I asked Eli a question.

"What's Cleo's deal?"

Eli seemed uninterested. "Cleo? Oh she's a daughter of Apollo."

Great. That clears everything up.

Eli pointed to the fields with the red fruit. "Those are our strawberry fields. They get the camp mortal money pretty easily. Mr. D and the satyrs make any fruit go wild."

Who was Mr. D? And they had satyrs here too? The goat men?

She started walking towards two buildings near the strawberry fields. There was a small creek in between us and the buildings, but we seemed to be headed towards a small bridge that spanned across it.

"We're headed towards the armory and the forge. That's where you'll get your weapon." Eli said. Her pace was pretty fast, and I had jog a little bit to keep up with her. Now that I was on the same level ground with her, I could see that she was a lot shorter than me, but she definitely looked more muscular.

We soon got to the buildings, and up close I could see that one was completely metal, and even through the walls and doors I could hear multiple hammers ringing out at once.

We passed the forge and headed towards what seemed to be a large shed. When Eli opened the doors, I gasped at the whole collection of dangerous and pointy things before me.

"We should probably start you out with a normal sword or knife, and see what weapons you prefer as you get better." Eli said, looking at the piles of bronze blades.

The first weapon she tried was a huge sword I couldn't even pick up. Eli immediately took the sword from me, not even struggling with the weight.

She grabbed another sword from the pile and handed it to me. When I grabbed it, and even though I could lift it, the sword still felt useless. I shook my head no.

This time she picked up a sheath crossed like and X, and pulled out two twin daggers. They were shorter than the swords, but longer than a normal knife. They were a little bit shorter than my whole arm.

When she handed me the bladed, they felt a little less awkward, and I felt myself getting used to them by the minute. My hands gripped the leather hilts more comfortably.

"Yeah, these feel good." I said, spinning them around experimentally.

"Good," Eli said, "it will be different training with two blades, as most people don't, but you seem like a quick learner. Those daggers, together, are called Gemini. One of our best forgers made them a while ago, but he died before he could do anything with them."

My mouth felt dry. "Died? Who was he?"

Eli picked up a rusty shield, spinning it around in her hands. "His name was Beckendorf, he died on a mission with Percy Jackson. He was a son of Hephaestus, like most of our weapon-makers."

Percy Jackson. He kept popping up. What was so special about him?

A loud, deep horn sounded in the distance. Eli immediately put all the weapons back, except for Gemini, and closed the doors.

"We have to go to dinner. That's the conch shell sounding."

I awkwardly held Gemini in my hands. "What do I do with my daggers? And when will you show me the rest of the camp?"

Eli started speed walking towards the creek, heading for the bridge. "Keep Gemini with you. You'll need a weapon for sword fighting tonight, which is why I'll have to finish the tour tomorrow."

We passed the odd looking cabins, and I could see an open Greek pavilion ahead. A crowd had already started to form in front of it, so I assumed that's where we were heading.

I looked at each of the cabins. Some of them had other kids coming out of them, and others looked dark and empty. One cabin, the one that looked the most normal, had a giant group of kids spilling out the doors. Eli pointed to it. "That's where you'll be staying until you get claimed."

"Claimed?" I asked.

Eli nodded. "Claimed by your godly parent. Then you'll stay in a cabin with all the other kids with your godly parent."

Wow. They really took all this seriously. "So," I started, "who is your godly parent?"

Eli frowned, like she wasn't happy with the question. I immediately regretted asking the question, but I stayed silent.

"Daughter of Ares." Eli stayed silent after that, obviously not wanting to elaborate.

"Okay," I said awkwardly, "so what is this sword fighting I hear about?"

My question cheered Eli up, I could tell she enjoyed weapons and fighting. "Well, we have forest games in three days, so I want to get you trained pretty early so you won't get chopped up into little pieces. You started the day pretty late, so you'll be able to start a full day of activities tomorrow."

I nodded, just trying to keep up ff the ground.

Eli frowned. "Hmm, try this."

She handed me a smaller looking sword with a wickedly sharp looking point. It felt awkward in my hand with her fast mouth.

"Tomorrow you'll try archery, crafts, the climbing wall, Greek Literature, pegasus riding, and monster fighting classes."

Pegasus riding? They had actual pegasi here?

By that time we had gotten to the Greek pavilion, as had most of the camp. Everyone seemed to be sitting at a certain table, and many were crammed, even though a few tables were empty.

Eli started walking towards a table with what seemed like the rowdiest kids there. Before she sat down, I tapped her shoulder, embarrassed.

"Where do I go?" I whispered, not keen to draw attention to myself.

"Oh!" Eli said, "Sorry, I forgot. You sit with the Hermes cabin for now. Go talk to Cecil." She pointed a guy that was guiding the group of kids I had seen earlier to a table.

I walked over to him, slightly nervous. If I made a fool of myself right now, I would hear about it forever. He had his back turned to me, so I cleared my throat and started talking. "Hi, I'm Tayen, Eli told me I would be staying with you."

He turned around, surprised. "Undetermined or child of Hermes?"

His question stumped me until I used my common sense and figured out undetermined meant unclaimed. "Undetermined, I said."

He nodded. "I'm Cecil, the head of the Hermes cabin. You'll be staying with us until we know who your godly parent is." His words were almost exactly the same as Eli's. "Go sit down in an empty spot."

I walked over to the table, which looked crammed. Most of the guys sat on one side, and girls on the other. There must have been a recent outbreak of cooties.

I spotted a tiny open space between two girls that looked a little bit older than me. They said nothing as I squeezed in between them and stared at my plate, waiting for food. I was super hungry, and didn't even pay attention to what Chiron was saying, which wasn't the smartest idea. The only thing I heard was his loud exclamation of, "Eat!"

All around me loud choruses of different drinks could be heard. I thought I even heard one person from the table behind me say, "Fig juice!" I picked up on the hint, and looked at the empty goblet in front of me.

"Mango smoothie," I said, and immediately my cup filled with a cold yellow thick mixture. When I sipped it, every taste bud on my tongue sang out in approval. It tasted almost as good as the odd drink I had drank twice before.

Girls dressed in leaf dresses with green-tinged skin came up with platters of food. I assumed they were wood nymphs, or something like that.

The food looked delicious, and I watched hungrily as they passed around plates of burgers and strawberries and other mouth watering foods.

I noticed everyone that had gotten their food was standing up and walking towards a fire pit in the middle of the eating area. Once I had served myself, I followed everyone else, and watched in confusion as they scraped a portion of their meal into the flames.

Elk came up to me. "The gods like the smell of burning food. Just put a bit of your food in." Then she walked away and followed her own cabin back to their seats.

Eli told me too, and dumped a few carrots into the fire. Even gods need to their vegetables, right? I caught a whiff of the smoke coming from the flames, and I knew why the gods liked it. It reminded me off all my favorite foods and smells.

At that moment, staring at the cinders flying across the setting sky, I knew that I would fit in here. This was my new home, my new family.

* * *

 **Bit cheesy ending. Oh well. Sorry for not updating sooner. I wanted to update earlier this week, but I was volunteering at my local library from 1-3, taking up the time when I usually write. I would have done it sooner today, but I was hanging out with some friends. I know that's not really an excuse, but…. :) So I hope you enjoyed part of Tayen's first day at camp. I can't wait to write her fighting and the forest games….. Can anyone guess Tayen's godly parent? Also, do you all want me to be on a update schedule? Because I can try if you want me too. :)**


	9. Chapter 8 - I Finally Punch Percy

Dinner was fantastic. Even the cruelest critic couldn't say anything bad about the food.

After I was done stuffing myself, and the rest of the Hermes cabin was heading back to their cabin. I stood there debating whether to follow them or look for Eli. Fortunately, she came up behind me and tapped my shoulder. I whirled around, almost smacking Elk in the face with my arm.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't know it was you."

Eli grinned. "Its cool. I've got quick reflexes. And, I'm used to almost hitting hit with things, thanks to my siblings." Her joke had an undertone to it, like her experiences with the Ares kids were all bitter.

I hesitated, not knowing what to say. I wasn't really a touchy feely person.

"So," Eli said, diffusing the awkward moment, "you ready for sword fighting?"

I felt my back, making sure Gemini was still slung around my shoulders. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"I'll take that as a yes!"

We started walking in the direction of the cabins, like we were heading back to the Big House.

Instead, we turned right, and in front of us looked like a big arena with straw dummies in the middle. It looked like the cabin Eli was with at lunch, the Ares cabin, was already there.

Eli's siblings looked twice as big as me, and much more muscular. They were all polishing wickedly sharp swords, like mine. A few even had spears.

Eli grinned. This was most definitely her element. "So, I'm going to teach you a few things in the side, then you'll practice on those dummies. At the very end, you'll duel me in a few matches."

Inside, I was freaking out slightly. We were training in with pointy swords that could take of someone's head! Outside, however, I remained cool and composed. The last thing I wanted to do was seem weak in front of the war god's children. I unsheathed Gemini, and walked over to an empty spot. Eli followed me, her and eyes gleaming with an almost hungry light.

Looking back in my first lesson, I couldn't tell you what happened at all. It was like my ADHD brain took the entire thing and crammed it into one second. One moment I was learning how to block, the next Eli was guiding me over to the dummies.

"Just slash and hack until they're just straw again." Eli said. She stepped in front of her own dummy and immediately sliced it's head off.

"Overkill much?" I said, teasingly.

Eli gave me one of her special glares. "It won't be overkill when it's on you."

I laughed. "Wow, nice comeback! Very smooth."

Flipping her hair dramatically, Eli stabbed her dummy. "You know me Tayen, I'm all about style."

I snorted, and burst out laughing, having to use my dummy as support so I wouldn't fall over.

The rest of the night went pretty well, and of course Eli crushed me in the duel. I didn't really try after being disarmed over and over again.

Eli showed me to the Hermes cabin, and someone gave me a sleeping bag and a pillow. Some of the campers slept in bunks, but I had to sleep on the floor. The cabin seemed pretty packed. As each camper climbed into bed, I tried to guess if they were a Hermes kid or just undetermined like me. Eventually, I fell asleep to the sound of many people snoring.

After I had woken up and eaten breakfast, Chiron himself came to escort me to the Big House. He seemed agitated, which worried me. The centaur led me back into the old farmhouse without a word. We entered a room with a ping pong table right in the center of the room. No one else was there, making me uneasy. Why a room with lots of chairs and a big table if only two people are there?

I sat down, and of course Chiron stayed standing. It was still a little bit difficult to remember that he was a horse from the waist down.

"You want to know about what happened in the forest?"I said, startling Chiron.

"Yes," he said, obviously surprised I had started the conversation, " I would like you to tell me."

"Well, I'm not really sure what happened either." I replied truthfully. Chiron motioned for me to continue, so I told him everything that happened that night. With every sentence he looked more and more troubled.

"So I blacked out and woke up in that room," I finished. Chiron looked as someone had handed him an unsolvable puzzle, or he was trying to push a door that says push.

"So you heard the Laelaps speak in your mind?" Chiron asked. I nodded.

He said nothing, but I was sure that he was thinking something. You can't just tell that story to a person and not have them have any ideas. Especially a thousands of years old centaur that has seen almost everything in Greek mythology.

"Thank you Tayen. I'm glad you told me this." The centaur opened the door.

"Wait," I said quickly, "I just told you all of that and went through it and you're not even going to tell me anything? I know you know something and I can handle it so just tell me!" I hadn't even realized that I had been shouting until I heard the echos of my voice. _Tell me_ , the walls seemed to say, _tell me._

Chiron just shook his head. "It's for your own saf-"

"Don't even tell me it's for my own safety!" I yelled, "You give us swords to play with and you talk about safety! This whole place has way too many secrets. I just want to know what is going on and for everyone to stop hiding things from me!"

Chiron looked pained. "There are worse things than blades and weapons."

I stormed out of the room and through the porch door. Eli was waiting outside. "How did it go?" she asked. I just pushed her out of the way. "I bet you're keeping secrets for him too."

I didn't even care. I was pretty sure I had some anger issues, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time. I was thinking more diagonal, or swerving."

Eli didn't say anything or come after me. I figured I had made her mad and she was going to report to Chiron about my every move or something like that.

Instead of going back to my cabin, which didn't even really feel like home, I headed in the direction of the forest. I wanted to check out the statue of the Laelaps.

A little voice in the back of my head whispered, " _That's probably not a good idea…."_ I ignored it and kept walking, giving glares to everyone that looked at me. Besides, when I get angry, reason goes out the window. Who cares if it wasn't safe? If Chiron wasn't going to tell me anything for my "safety," I would just have to show him it's not safe anyways.

There might even be clues in the forest, maybe who my godly parent is…

I reached the edge of the forest, and started to doubt my decision a little bit. Again, I ignored the smart part of my brain and kept walking.

The trees quickly thickened, cutting out all the sunlight and warmth. I found the clearing with the stone thrones again, and headed off in the direction I knew was the statue.

Eventually I spotted stone through the trees and saw the giant figure of the Laelaps. It was still snarling, with stone drool frozen as it dripped off of the hound's ugly face. I shuddered as I remembered it attacking me and threatening me telepathically. You don't hear that every day.

I circled the stone beast, trying to find anything abnormal about the Laelaps, other than it existing and turning into stone.

I looked up at a tiny patch of sky. Did Zeus do this? Was Zeus my father?

My thoughts were interrupted by a tiny crack behind me. I whirled around, somehow unsheathing Gemini from the X sheath around my back. I had managed to pull both blades out smoothly and not fall on my face as I turned to see what it was.

An inch away from the sharp tips of Gemini was the one and only Percy Jackson. He looked slightly shocked and was focused on my daggers.

I glared at him, keeping my blades close to his chest. Now that we were just standing on land, it made me see how tall he was compared to me. I wasn't even to his shoulders. That made me even angrier.

"I'm going to suppress the huge urge I have to skewer you with these daggers." I said, forcing all of my anger to bubble up. I really wanted to get mad and yell at this guy.

Percy raised his hands slowly in the air. "I surrender."

I lowered Gemini, and sheathed them. "What are you doing here?" I snarled, making sure he knew that I was serious.

Despite my efforts, Percy still had that smirk on his face that made me want to slap him. Actually, that seemed like a good idea.

I raised my and punched him in the gut as hard as I could. It wasn't the face, but it would do.

Percy doubled over, groaning. The pain on his face was clear, and I was glad that even the strongest hero couldn't stop a punch from hurting.

I leaned over so he could hear what I was saying perfectly. "Go away, and don't ever come near me again."

I walked back under to the cover of the trees, and shimmed up one. I seemed pretty good at climbing them, so I decided to follow Percy whenever he was going through the treetops.

The canopy was pretty thick, so I just jumped from branch to branch, making sure to stay covered by the leaves. I was right behind Percy, who seemed to have recovered. He was walking back towards the clearing with the thrones.

I followed him all the way there, where I saw him meet up with a blonde girl that looked vaguely familiar. They seemed to be talking, but I wasn't within earshot. Making sure to not ruffle the leaves, I climbed around till I was almost above them.

"-don't know what I did to make her mad!" Percy said. I figured her was me.

The blonde frowned. "You did trap Tayen in a bubble after attacking her with a sword, then not even make sure she was behind you while you were in a monster infested forest?"

Wow. I really liked this blonde. Even I could take sass lessons from her.

Percy frowned. "It wasn't like that!" he pouted.

I heard a conch shell sound in the distance, and I knew it was lunchtime already. Percy and the blonde just stayed there standing, not even talking. I decided to make my move.

I jumped out of the tree, startling both the blonde and Percy, and started walking towards the edge of the forest.

"If you all are done talking about me, then you should come eat lunch with everyone dining pavilion is this way," I called behind me. I didn't even look behind me as I left the forest with my stomach growling.

* * *

 **Sorry for not updating for more than a week. My goal was to update yesterday, but that didn't happen. Then I wanted to update today, so I met that goal by less than 30 minutes. I was helping out at a camp for kids with special needs, so I didn't have lots of time to write. The writing might be patchy from stopping multiple times, but I tried. So, can anyone guess what Tayen's godly parent is? It's kinda hard I guess, and there is one super hard clue to figure out, but if you do, it gives away everything. Have I already said that? I think so...**

 **Welp. I'm losing my memory.**


	10. Chapter 9 - Everything Sucks

**I have a goal today: don't get out of bed. XD**

The rest of the week went by pretty soon, and I kept up my training with Gemini and went to other activities. Eli hadn't talked to me at all since I snapped at her. I wasn't about to go up to her apologize anytime soon.

I hadn't seen Percy or the blonde at all either. Even Chiron avoided me, only talking to me during classes and such. I felt like a ticking time bomb, and everyone was wating for me to explode. Truthfully, I really did want to explode. I had screamed and hit, but there was still bottled up anger inside me, growing bigger every second. I just wanted to scream pure death and destroy everything around me.

Yeah, I might have anger issues.

It was the day before the forest games, and I had archery class with Chiron after lunch. Nothing else. I had the entire day to mope around in the Hermes cabin or wander around the forest. The rest of the week had been jam packed with activities. I had a feeling Chiron was trying to keep me distracted. It wasn't working.

I walked to the archery practice field. Chiron was waiting there, his expression blank.

He handed me a bow and a quiver of arrows without a word. Then he went to demonstrate how to shoot the arrow and aim with as little talking as possible.

I did as he didn't really say, and the arrow went flying. It hit the target only an inch from the bulls eye.

Chiron looked impressed. "Very good for your first time." It was the very first full sentence he had spoken since I got there.

I pulled another arrow out of the quiver and nocked it on my bow. Again, I aimed and shot. This time it landed right on the red bulls eye. There was no doubt this time. Chiron looked completely shocked. I guess being this good was odd.

I kept practicing until I ran out of arrows, most of them hitting the small red dot or near it. Over the thwacks of the arrows hitting the target, I could hear Chiron muttering. "Archery, the Laelaps, water, what is she?"

I was annoyed, that's what I was. I just wished that someone would tell me what was going on and truthfully. I probably wouldn't believe anything that came out of Chiron's mouth though.

After I finished my arrows, I asked Chiron what I should do. He just gestured away from the practice field. "Just go back to your cabin."

Sent to my room, huh. Not gonna happen.

I walked to the cabins as if I was returning there, but instead of going inside the Hermes cabin, I ducked behind it.

Then I started walking towards the forest. Something drew me to the dark woods, even though I knew the dangers. As I walked, I made sure Gemini was on my back. I did not want to be caught in the monster-infested trees without a weapon. It was almost a death wish if you went in without a blade of some sort..

Instead of heading back to the Laelaps, I went more left once I left the clearing with the thrones. As I kept walking through areas I hadn't seen before, I stumbled upon a small creek with a small swimming pool right above it. The water from the swimming hole trickled down a waterfall into the creek. It was extremely peaceful, and I could imagine herself relaxing here all day.

Instead, I spotted a few pieces of trash floating in the waterfall's froth. The sight of it made me angry, angry that someone could be so careless to allow trash to invade such beauty.

I picked up every piece and stuffed it in the extra pouch on Gemini's sheath.

Once I had finished cleaning up the litter, I sat down on a mossy stone next to the creek and just ran my fingers through the water.

The next time I came here, I told myself, I was going to bring a bathing suit and get in. The water was just too inviting to not swim in.

I stood up,ready to explore a bit more, and I saw a tiny bunny hopping around a few feet away. Standing super still, I watched the bunny come closer and closer. It finally reached me and nuzzled my leg with it's pink nose. I slowly knelt down, and pet the bunny. Instead of running away, like a normal bunny would, it rubbed it's head up and down my hand. The bunny almost looked like a cat.

"Hello," a voice said. I was startled for a second, thinking the bunny was talking. Then I remembered that would be crazy, and I turned around, looking for who spoke.

A young girl about my age stood leaning against a tree. Her skin was extremely pale, so pale I could see bluish veins running up and down her arms.

She wore a flowy blue dress that was dripping wet, as was her black hair. It was braided with long grass, and she wore a small crown of moss and twigs. Her feet were completely bare. The oddest thing about her was her pointed ears, which were definitely not human.

"Thank you for cleaning up my waters." Her voice reminded me of water gurgling between stones.

 _Her waters…_ "You must be a naiad." I replied.

She nodded. "I am the naiad of Zephyros Creek. To other nature spirits, however, I am known as Sophronia."

I winced at the long and odd name. "Can I just call you Sophie?"

Sophronia nodded. "Sure."

"Well, ok." I felt my face fall back into a scowl. I just wanted some peace, which I guess was hard around Camp Half-Blood. Even the trees and streams could listen.

Sophie stared at me. "You looked troubled. What is wrong?"

At that moment I kind of broke down. I spilled all of what had happened since I woke up in the Big House for the first to time to Sophie. The nymph was a good listener, and stayed silent the entire time.

After I finished, I sighed and sat down on the soft grass.

Sophie looked thoughtful. "Why can you not just apologize to this Eli?"

She voiced the concerns I was thinking myself. "No," I said to both my thoughts and her, "I won't do that."

I half expected the nymph to leave with some vague advice, but Sophie didn't move a bit. I was surprised she wasn't the nymph of a rock instead of a creek.

"You are very stubborn, are you not?" she asked. "Well, I have a feeling you might need your friend soon. I happen to know what the forest games are about, and she seems like a good teammate to have."

I perked up. "Forest games?"

Sophie nodded. "Every century or so, Chiron holds a forest game. They are, of course, held here and are quite fun to watch."

My eyes widened. "Every century?"

Sophie waved her hand. "Or maybe every week. I cannot be sure, but I do know that there will be multiple teams, and you will be fighting in the dark!" She said it dramatically, and spoke very enthusiastically.

"Speaking of the dark," I said, "It's about to get that way."

Sophie looked shocked. "You need to leave. You of all people should know that the forest is dangerous at night, even for yourself." With that, she faded away, only leaving the smell of fresh water behind.

I stood up and ran towards the cabins, pondering what the nymph could have meant.

That night, as I slept in my sleeping bag on the floor of the Hermes cabin, I had an odd dream.

It started out like any other dream, except that I could see everything perfectly and feel the grass through my toes. I was in the forest at night, a part that I didn't recognize. Of course, I had barely seen any of the forest, so I really could have been anywhere in any woods.

As I was inspecting my surroundings, from behind me came a searing light that seemed to bore into my skin. I quickly moved behind a tree and shielded my eyes with my hands.

When the light subsided, I glanced up to see what had caused such a phenomenon. Around five feet away was the silhouette of a girl that looked around my height. She started to walk forwards, as I strained my eyes to see her face. Something long and curved was hanging on her back.

I followed her all the way to a huge oak tree, careful not to make any sound. The girl, still in shadows, stood serene in front of the tree. It was thick around it's trunk, and a spot facing towards the girl was all lumpy, like the bark was bubbles and they froze there forever. It's bottom was huge, unnatural for an oak tree.

The stranger leaned forward, more into the shadow of the huge tree's leaves, and I noticed something odd. Even though it was so dark around her I couldn't make out details, she seemed to emit a small glow that didn't light up the area around her.

I was too busy focused on her light bulb powers that I didn't notice what she was doing, until the tree opened, of course. **(- That sentence though.)** The odd knobbly spot rolled away into the tree until a dark hole was left facing me and the mystery girl.

Out climbed an old lady that probably had lived as many years as the wrinkles on her face. Her back was hunched so far over I actually winced at how much it must have hurt to walk. Unlike the girl, I could actually make out her face under the moonlight. She reminded me of Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas, with her wise eyes and the grandmother smile, like she's about to bake some cookies with milk.

The grandmother figure hobbled over to the small girl and bowed, again making me cringe. I could see every knobbly bone on her spine jut out, raising her tweed dress. I doubted they had any chiropractors nearby, but she desperately needed one.

"I understand you are keeping watch on her?" the girl said curtly. I couldn't see her face move, but her voice was very curt and commanding. Whoever that girl was, she was obviously in a position of power.

I didn't hear the old woman's response, but it must have been what the girl wanted to hear, because she stood up straighter and an edge to her voice was gone when she replied. "So she is safe? I want to know where she is? Where is my-"

Finally, I heard the old grandmother's voice. "Stop right there m'lady," it sounded like popcorn sizzling and crackling in a hot pan, "she is here now and listening to our every word. You wouldn't want her to know early, would you?"

I gasped, knowing they meant me, and my vision changed.

I was running down a beach, with a storm right overhead. It was sending charged bolts of energy down all around me, almost hitting me, but not quite. It was like a cat playing with it's food before it eats. The ocean's tide seemed aggressive, sending crashing waves that almost knocked me off my feet, and no matter how far up the beach I would go, they would reach me.

Everywhere that I stepped, even on the wet sand, tiny flames would erupt on my feet, making me scream in pain. I wanted to collapse right there, but something kept me running.

I felt like I was going mad. I would see crazy people near me, then look away, and then they were gone. Maybe the entire thing was a hallucination.

I was too busy running and screaming to notice that the end of the beach was coming up. The blades tickled my feet as I leapt through the air and landed on solid ground.

The sky immediately cleared, the sun shone down from a cloudless sky. The ocean looked so far away, with tamed waves that just slightly lapped the sand. There was no more fire, and the area looked completely free of any other people.

I started jogging towards the faint outline of a large shape in the distance. I couldn't tell what it was, but it was the only thing around that might help. I certainly wasn't going on the beach again.

As I ran, it got hotter and I started sweating buckets. I wasn't really dressed for hot weather, with my long jeans and thick t-shirt. It was like someone had designed slow torture from heat for me.

The sun seemed to burn brighter in the sky, and I fell down, seeing red burns show up on my arms. My face must have been raw, and it felt that way too. The heat kept intensifying, making my skin peel and red dots appear all over my body. It was like a sunburn on fast forward, and it hurt.

I curled up into a ball, now thankful for the clothes that I was trying to wrap round myself to keep my skin from getting harmed. Even then,I could still feel the severe heat seeping through my clothes.

The air felt like it was charged with radioactive molecules, and every time I tried to take a breath, I would choke on the heat. I was suffocating and burning at the same time.

I felt the air turn blistering hot, the highest dial on the sun's thermostat, and with that came a high pitched ringing in my ears that seemed to come more from the inside than the out.

The grass around me had withered and died, leaving a cracked patch of dirt for me to die on. I heard a loud hiss as the entire ocean evaporated into hot steam, thankfully no where near me.

I finally thought of the people I knew, ending with my mystery parent, hoping this wasn't reality, and I would get to see them again. I eventually passed out.

 **Well… btw I changed the rating for this to T just to be safe, especially with this chapter now out and posted. Sorry the guest that guessed Tayen's parents, but you were incorrect. I won't say who they guessed, so you have to guess yourself. :) I hope you liked this chapter, I spent a lot of work coming up with the last bit, and the character Sophie. :)**


	11. Chapter 10 - Paranoia Paradise

**I am legitimately sorry everyone. I just went through a super bad writing slump, kind of brought on by the start of school in early August. I can't say it won't happen again, I just hope it doesn't. Feel free to spam me with a bunch of reviews or PMs if I do it again.**

* * *

Screaming. All I remember was screaming.

I woke up the entire Hermes cabin, and at first they all thought it was a normal nightmare, until I was still awake and still freaking out. Anyone that tried to calm me down was met with my rabid flailing limbs.

I remember waking up to see the entire cabin staring at me, collapsed on someone's bunk. My arms and legs were burnt, peeling skin. It felt like my blood was on fire.

It wasn't a great start to the day.

The rest of the Hermes cabin avoided me for the rest of the morning and afternoon. Whenever I had to be near them or do an activity together, no one would meet my gaze. They said it was normal, so why were they acting like something was wrong with me?

As the sun was setting, we gathered in the dining pavilion as usual. Unlike the past few days, where I was squished in between different people, tonight no one wanted to get near me. I sat on the edge, with people leaning to the side just not to touch me. The spot in front of me was open.

I rubbed my burns absentmindedly, even a little bit just to freak out everyone even more. Whispers curled around me, telling me that rumors of my freak dream had already spread around the camp. I could almost actually feel people's gaze as they stared at my arms and legs, giving their own opinions on what happened.

The Hermes cabin rose, along with all the other tables, which meant I had daydreamed through the dinner announcements, along with the command to go to the fire pit.

I walked alongside everyone else and dropped a bit of my steak into the fire. As I turned to walk back to my table with everyone else, I caught a whiff of the smoke.

"Trust no one, Tayen."

I whirled around, ready to smack who ever whispered the ominous message in my ear. Did they think it was funny?

As I turned, my vision blurred slightly, dizziness jumbled my thoughts. Shaking my head, my vision cleared to see an entire pavilion with everyone seated at their tables. When did the entire camp get finished with their sacrifices? I was only up there for a few seconds.

When I focused on the details of one face, they were all carved with the same emotions. Surprise. Confusion. Fear.

I glared at as many people as I could as I was walking back to the Hermes table. What was their problem? Couldn't they just leave me alone for once. I half wanted to walk straight out of there, but I had done that too much. I wasn't going to run away just because a few people had a problem with me.

I sat down, not even touching my food. I wasn't going to eat food that was made by the same people staring at me with such strong emotions about me. The words I had heard by the pit echoed in my ear. _Trust no one._

It had to be advice from my parent, which meant someone was after me. Here, in the camp, I was being targeted. It could be Eli, or Sophie. Each one I had spilled my secrets to, which meant they had leverage over me. I couldn't talk to anyone anymore, no one could be my friend. There was a wolf in the flock.

Tonight was the forest games, the perfect time to catch me off guard. Anyone who really wanted to could overpower me. I was, unfortunately, an extremely unfit, weak, barely trained, thirteen year old girl whose only skill was running her mouth.

My food sat uneaten as Chiron called for order.

"Demigods! Tonight is our forest games, as most of you know."

Loud cheering came from the tables, with some even stomping their feet and banging the tables.

"We are introducing a new game, called Conquer. The goal of the game is to conquer every team's base. There will be four teams, one for every corner of the forest. In order to take over a base, you must eliminate everyone in the base boundaries that is not not on your team. To make this clear, there are no safe areas. You can get eliminated anywhere."

I narrowed my eyes. These rules were making it easier and easier for someone to take me out. What if Chiron was helping whoever it was? It made sense, he never told me anything straight out.

Chiron kept talking. "In order to get eliminated, you must be disarmed. Once you are disarmed, walk out of the forest with your hands on your head to the big house. If you disarm someone, take their weapon back to your base. Weapons will be returned after the game ends. Also, if your base get conquered, your entire team is out. A horn will be blown once a team is out from their corner of the forest. No maiming, traps are allowed, and no cheating."

The tables cheered, everyone getting up to grab their armor and lace it up. I, however, tried to slip out of the pavilion, avoiding playing the game at all. Unfortunately, the head counselor of the Hermes cabin stopped me.

"Here's some armor that should fit you, we're on the east team. Since you're a beginner, I'll have you on defense."

He pushed a heavy chest plate into my arms and walked off before I could protest. I had no choice but to follow him, now that he would be looking for me.

The rest of the Hermes cabin was gathered in a big group with another cabin. Most of them had bleach-blond hair and tan skin. As I walked towards them, laughter erupted from the center of the mixed cabins. The source seemed to be a tall kid that looked identical to his cabin, blond and all, and a familiar pale boy.

It was Nico, that kid that shadow-traveled or whatever. He was on our team? Great, just another reason for me not to play.

I joined the mass of the Hermes cabin and the blonds, heading towards Nico. I wanted him to know that I was there and to stay out of my way.

I broke just into the edge of the circle, where everyone was standing around the blond, still laughing, and Nico, oddly blushing. The pink looked neon on his almost translucent skin.

I stood there, holding the heavy armor, watching Nico and the blonde laugh. In a moment when Nico was catching his breath, his gazed locked on mine and stopped laughing. He tapped the blond on the arm and said something I didn't catch. I turned around, pushing my way out of the circle, knowing Nico would follow me.

After pushing out of the mass, I turned around to see Nico right behind me.

"Hey," he said, his face expressionless, "I'm sorry about when we met. We were in a rush."

I breathed in slowly. It was taking all my self-restraint not to punch him in the face. "Right."

Nico smiled, and expression that looked weird on him. "Look, I want you to stick with me and Will for the game. I already asked Cecil if it was cool, so you're good."

"Will," I asked, "who is Will?"

"Oh, um," Nico blushed slightly, "Will is, well-"

He was interrupted by the tall blond I mentioned earlier. "Hey Neeks!" he said, "Is this the girl?"

"The girl's name is Tayen," I said, giving the blond a glare, "and she doesn't like it when people don't introduce themselves to her."

The blond looked shocked. "Well, um, you can tell her that I'm sorry, and that my name is Will. And that she'll be hanging out with us during the game."  
I crossed my arms, hoping that I looked as angry as I felt. "Well, Will, I don't care much for games, so you can tell Chiron that I won't be playing."

I turned my back towards them, and started walking in the direction of the Hermes cabin when I heard Will mutter something.

"What's her problem?"

Rage hit me. Adrenaline instantly raced through me, giving me the boost I needed. I whirled around and rammed my elbow into Will's chest like a bullet. It was Fight or Flight, and I wasn't running.

I felt my arm slam into his chest, and it felt odd. Maybe he had really hard abs? Will fell back and landed on his back on the ground. An odd clang rang through my ears, my dizzy brain barely picking it up. It sounded almost like metal…

When the odd burst of energy ended, and I stopped swaying, I looked down to see what I had done too Will, and the odd things about the attack made sense.

Will was wearing a bronze chest plate when I hit him, and there was now a gaping hole with jagged metal edges sticking inward, big enough to fit my arm. I had punched through the strongest metal of the gods.

Pain raced through my elbow, and I saw blood streaming down it, flowing past the bits of metal stuck in my skin.

Everyone was staring at me, including Will and Nico. Everyone was scared of me, it was as clear as day on their faces.

I cleared my throat, looking straight at Will. "She also doesn't like it when people say things about her behind her back." I looked up, giving the crowd a glare also. Might as well make my point known.

I turned around for the second time, and was about to stalk off to wherever. The door to the Big House opened, and Chiron stepped out, taking in the scene in front of him. I sighed. I really screwed up.

"What!" I shrieked, "You're giving me a baby sitter!"

Chiron sighed. "Look, you put our best healer in the infirmary, and you've never played a forest game before. Two perfectly good reasons to give you some help and have someone stay with you."

I looked over at Nico. "But him? Seriously?" Nico didn't even look offended, he just sat there with his head off in another land.

Chiron gave me one of his looks, like he was reading my mind. What if he actually could? "You attacked another camper for no reason, you have to be reasonable."

I was shocked. "No reason? He antagonized me! He said something me about me behind my back!"

Nico perked up. "What, do you mean Tayen? Will didn't say anything."

I looked at him in anger. "Of course he did! I don't attack people for fun! He had to have said something!"

Both Chiron and Nico had a pitying look on their faces. It made me sick.

"Just go get suited up and follow Nico, Tayen." Chiron trotted out of the room.

Nico and I stood in the designated boundaries for our base. Four faint green lines of light intersected, creating the box that we needed to guard. I could hear fighting in the distance, muffled war cries combined with the clang of metal on metal.

I shifted my armor and blew a stray hair out of my face. "This is stupid. We should be helping."

Nico stood awkwardly also. "We are helping. We're guarding the base."

I was about to retort when I heard a rustling of bushes to our left. Out stepped six heavily armed campers with yellow plumes. They were from the west.

The guy in front twisted his sword around in his hand. Nico turned towards me and pushed me away from the base. "Run. I've got this."

There were six guys, so he clearly didn't got this, but I ran off into the forest anyways. I could hear Nico yelling behind me, but he seemed to be not eliminated yet.

When I had gotten to what I thought was a safe distance, I climbed up a tree to see what was going on. The bark tore at my hands, and before I knew it, I was bleeding again.

The scene below me was so weird I had trouble processing everything. Nico had a long black sword and was fighting three guys at once. The other three yellows were walking away from the base with their hands above their heads.

My gaze went back to Nico, who was as fast as a bullet, dodging all of their attacks and making his own in the process. A guy lunged at him before he could recover from the last strike, and Nico disappeared. The last three guys turned around, looking for him. I however, knew exactly what had happened. Nico had done his shadow-traveling thingy, and was about to reappear and attack them again.

I was right. Nico shadow-traveled right in front of them, and before they could realise what happened, all of their swords were out of their hands.

I shimmied out of the tree, ready to meet back up with Nico again and ask him how he shadow-travels. I was actually quite interested, and all my anger from earlier and somehow dissipated.

When I got out of the tree, a bluish light caught my eye, and I glanced over to see what is was. A floating, bluish light hovered right next to me, and wisps of light coming off of it looked like arms, gesturing me towards out of bounds.

I obliged, walking in the direction the floating blue thing kept drifting towards. Every few seconds or so, if I listened hard, I could hear a giggle or a chiming of bells coming from the ball of light. It seemed so friendly, I couldn't help but trust it. What harm could a small, tiny, floating blue thing do?

It led me into an awfully familiar clearing, one I just couldn't put my finger on. The moon shone down on me, casting beautiful silver rays through the air. I turned slowly, taking in the beautiful scene before me. And I started to dance.

One foot after another. I was leaping through the air with a fluidity I never knew I had. My shoes and armor were mysteriously gone, letting me feel the grass on my toes. The less weight the better too.

I danced and danced, letting my body go with the flow of the music only in my head. I didn't know what it was, I just felt compelled to do it.

Animals gathered in a circle around me, some in odd positions that could look like bowing. Each one was swaying their head to the rhythm of my song.

The tune got louder and louder in my ears, and I felt my feet lifting off of the ground. There were no monsters, no tricks, it was just me in a magical forest having the dance of my life. I was raised higher, right to the top of the forest canopy. My feet were supported by something, but it was so thin I couldn't tell what it was. I kept dancing, moving my feet to the song I hoped would never stop.

The moon seemed so much brighter above the trees, letting me see the whole of the sound I met Percy in, and the camp that I now called home. It was beautiful.

The song ended, and I was slowly lowered back down to the ground. All the animals were gone, and so was the beautiful moon lighting. It did seem a bit bright though.

A figure on the edge of the tree line caught my eye. It was Nico, and he had the most shocked expression I had ever seen. He locked eyes with me, and raised his hand wordlessly to point above me.

I looked up, and hovering above my head was a hologram-like object. It was a bow and arrow, and the bow looked suspiciously like a moon.

Nico knelt down, still looking straight at me. "Artemis, Protector Of Wild Animals, Chariot Rider of The Moon, Maiden Goddess, all hail Tayen, um, Daughter of The Huntress.

* * *

 **WOWOWOWOWOWOW, you all never would have guessed that, huh? Yes, I know Artemis is the maiden goddess, it will all be explained later. Hope you all liked this chapter, remember, I love getting reviews and feedback.**


	12. Chapter 11 - I Shouldn't Exist

Cricket. Cricket.

I was the daughter of a _maiden_ goddess. I literally defied everything my mother stood for.

 _My mother._ I was the child of Artemis. It made sense, my attraction to the forest and the animals. Still, I was born to someone who wasn't supposed to have children.

Nico was still staring at me with an awed expression. It made me uncomfortable.

I walked over to him, noticing the pale glow above me fade. I pointed at him threateningly.

"If you even _think_ about this near other people I will make sure you end up as a statue," I growled, getting close enough to where I was right in your face. "My mom has the right idea about _boys,_ you can never trust someone who just wants a kiss."

Nico looked slightly offended. "That's definitely not me."

I played surprised, mocking him. "You say that you've never liked a girl in, what, the ten years you've lived?"

Nico shook his head. "Actually, it's 70 years, and no. I'm gay."

I felt my eyes widen. "Really?"

Nico was blushing again. "Really. I only like guys, so I'm not going to hit on you or something."

The words of my mother echoed in my head. _Trust no one._ Could I really trust no one? Nico seemed ok, and it really sucked bottling up everything.

I slumped my shoulders, giving up on the tough persona I had been convincing myself and the camp was real. Sitting down on the grass, I realised how sore my legs were. I sighed, laying down fully on the ground. The plants beneath me cushioned my tired body, and I felt relaxed for the first time in days.

"Ever feel like the entire world is plotting against you and just wants to make your life as horrible as possible, all the way to the point where you just want to give up completely? Because I never feel like that."

Nico sat down in front of me, criss-cross applesauce, as I stared up at the stars, wondering if there was actually Olympian gods looking down on me.

"I never get that feeling either," Nico said, "and I've had a pretty long and hard life."

I sat myself up. "Tell me about it."

The forest was silent as Nico paused. "I really don't like talking about it."

I shook my head. "If you didn't want to talk about it, you wouldn't have mentioned it. Besides, I don't have a past, so give me yours."

Now Nico was intrigued. "What do you mean, no past?" He said, staring closer at me.

"I won't tell you unless you tell me about your past," I said, smiling.

Nico sighed, and lied down, the same way I did, staring straight up at the stars. "I was born in the 30's, right before WWII started…." Nico talked almost through the night, and wasn't done until the sun moon was setting. He described his sister Bianca, and his journey through Tartarus. I sat listening, entranced by all the heroic and crazy things he had done. I was sure that if I went through that, I wouldn't be alive to tell the tale.

When Nico got to the part in his story where he meet Cupid, I literally shivered. It was almost like Cupid was right behind me, breathing down my neck. I hated knowing that there was a not very nice god that controlled my love life. I wanted nothing to do with love and romance, and I hope I made that clear to Cupid and Aphrodite.

Nico finished off his story, "So, I had been shadow traveling too much, almost to the point where I dissolved into darkness. Will ordered me to stay in the infirmary, and there we became friends."

I arched my eyebrow at Nico. "No way Will is just your friend."

Nico blushed again, "Anyways, now tell me about you."

I shrugged. "I woke up in the Big House with no memory. The end."

Nico frowned. "And it doesn't bother that your whole life is gone?"

"It doesn't feel like someone took my memories, it just feels like they were never there," I said, "so no, it doesn't really bother me."

A bright light flashed in my eyes, making me wince and lift my hands to my face. The sun shone slightly through the trees, sending a pink ray down to the ground. The light reflected off of the dew on the leaves, making the whole air tinged pink and orange.

Nico's eyes widened. "It's already morning! We have to go."

Nico and I scrambled off the ground. The night had gone a lot faster than I thought it would.

The entire camp was probably looking for Nico; he seemed to be pretty well known.

We can through the forest, low branches slapping us in the face. As we reached the break of the trees, Nico stopped. I almost ran past him, but I caught myself, skidding on the grass.

I looked at him. "Come on! Chiron will be _so_ angry at us!"

"What are you going to tell the camp?" Nico asked.

I arched an eyebrow. "About what?"

Nico looked me straight in the eye. "About you being claimed."

I felt myself getting defensive. "Nothing. And you better do the same."

I stalked off, not caring if Nico was following me. As I stepped out of the tree line, a couple of campers noticed me. One of them nudged his friend's shoulder and pointed at me.

"Talking about me? I hope its something nice." I charged through both of them, knocking them out of the way.  
I walked towards the Big House, ready to get a lecture on staying safe and that crap they give you at a summer camp where they give you swords. Yeah, real smart Chiron.

Chiron was waiting for me on the porch of the big house. I could see his glare all the way from across the camp. As I walked up to the porch, Chiron said, "Tayen I know you were in the forest last night, don't deny it. The forest is dangerous, especially for you."

I gave him a glare. "Don't even tell me that. I don't need to be babied." I shook my arm in his face, making sure he noticed the burns.

"I woke up from a dream in which I burned to death and woke up with these! You can't just tell me to shy away from danger when it's already here! I'm right in the thick of danger, and you're telling me that it's bad to walk under some trees! Don't keep saying that I need to be safe when I've already been hurt! I'm tired of you acting like I'm a naive child!"

Chiron looked shocked. I guess no one was actually smart enough to realize that Chiron didn't actually have the best for the campers and confront him about it.

"The only person that has actually been nice and truthful since I got to camp is Nico," I said, looking at Nico, who had come up behind me. "So stop it."

Chiron was speechless. I turned towards Nico, who was looking at me with his eyebrows raised. "I'll be in the forest if you need me. It's the only place where I feel safe."

I sprinted back to the forest, loving the feeling of the air through my hair. The trees soon loomed over me and I was back into the forest. It felt like I was spending too much time in the forest.

I spent the day collecting branches and straw from the forest. If I was going to sleep in the forest tonight I wanted something better than the plain ground.

I was wandering through the forest when I stumbled upon a huge willow tree that looked super old. The trunk was so wide it created a flat space where the tree branched off. It would be a safe and comfy to lay in. It was perfect for a place to sleep.

I quickly gathered up my straw and other things and made a makeshift bed. Laying down in it, I realized that it was actually quite comfortable. I laid my head down on my moss pillow and covered myself with some straw.

Sleep quickly took over my tired body.

* * *

I'm staring into a dark abyss, watching it ebb and flow below me. All around me, the ocean was as dark as the sky above me. Panic is starting to set in. Where was I?

I looked all around, only seeing the hazy outline of what could be land in the distance. I squinted my eyes and peered closer at it.

Before I could stop myself, I automatically stepped forwards. For a second I thought I was about to topple over into the ocean, but my foot landed on something stable.

I looked down to see that my feet were hovering above the water. Nothing was supporting me at all.

I dropped into the water and stupidly screamed instead of taking a breath. My lungs were already bursting just from two seconds underwater.

I couldn't see anything around me, and I had no idea which way was up and down. Deja Vu hit me; this was almost the same situation as when Percy trapped me in a bubble, except that Percy wasn't coming. I didn't need his help anyways. I was fine.

I breathed in instinctively, and immediately coughed as my wind pipe filled up with water. Of course, coughing made me breath in more, and my lungs filled up with water.

A sort of peace came over me as I relaxed. I had heard that drowning wasn't very painful, but I expected my brain to be a little more concerned over that fact it had no oxygen.

I let my body float around aimlessly and I closed my eyes. I might actually fall asleep dying. That would be an all-time low.

Black fuzz crept up on the sides of my vision. I could hear my heart trying to beat it's way out of my chest to get air. I wasn't too concerned. I could stay like that forever, if it wasn't for the whole dying part.

Seconds later, the water finally took over me and I passed out.

* * *

 **I hope you liked this chapter, as always, and I'm sorry for not posting constantly. I'm not very good with schedules. Also, look up Tayen's name meaning, the odd title will make sense. I will probably change the title in the future, but for now it's kind of a pun. XD It sounded better in my head, trust me.**


	13. Chapter 12 - Are You My Mummy?

Ow. Real ow.

My head felt like someone was squeezing it with the force of a body builder. What the heck was going on?

My limbs had an odd feeling, like they were coated in something, but I couldn't move anything. And why couldn't I see anything?

A piercing noise ripped through my head, scattering all of my thoughts. I could move finally, but a kaleidoscope of colors was flashing across my vision.

I bolted straight up, noticing that I was lying down. My limbs still felt odd, and I realized that they were covered in water, and my clothes were soaking wet also.

My head was throbbing, and I pressed my hands up to my eyes as I tried to stop the pain and bring my sight back.

I felt a pressure of some sort on my back, and as a concentrated on it, it felt more and more like a hand. Another hand was placed on my shoulder, and I had an image of a person with their arms on my shoulders, shaking me, as if to wake me up.

The same noise as before ripped across my skull. I just couldn't take it anymore, the pain was so disabling. It felt like someone was slowly ripping through my skull with a hammer. Waves of it came and danced around my head, torturing me until I finally welcomed the blackness and peace.

My eyes fluttered open to a very unfamiliar sight. I was in a room with clean, crisp white walls with lots of machines beeping around me. The only thing in front of the bed I was lying in was a chair and a door out of the room. My bed was very odd, with metal bars supporting it and unpatterned white sheets.

There was something very uncomfortable around my nose. I held up my hand and felt a thin tube-like thing sticking into my nostrils. There was a piece of tape holding into place.

I ripped the tube out, whatever it was. Whatever this place was, they must have been trying to poison me somehow.

I slipped out of the odd bed, shivering from the cold air blowing through the room. It was like they had the wind gods themselves controlling the temperature in here. The air was especially breezy on my back, and when I turned around to see why, I noticed the thin dress I was wearing had no back to it.

What sick place put you in a room with odd machines, a very uncomfortable bed, undressed you and gave you barely any clothes to wear, and left you to wake up alone? And what for?

A very familiar noise hit my brain, and I fell to my knees through the pain. I gritted my teeth and clutched my head. Why me?

Two people in swishy white jackets came into the room which was now swimming in front of me. They rushed towards me and caught me before I completely fell to the floor.

After the pain faded away, I looked up at the two people that were holding me up so I wouldn't collapse. I couldn't even feel my legs.

They were both female and look very, very concerned. The one on my left had a name tag that read: Beatrice. She looked quite old, almost seventy.

"Deary, you need to get back into bed!" She said in a very sweet and sugary voice that reminded me of something.

The two people led me back into the odd bed on the metal bars and hooked the tube back up to my nose.

I tried to protest, but I was too weak to even lift my arm.

They took wires with sticky things at the end of them and placed some on my arm and the side of my head. I wondered why they weren't pulling my, so I bent my head down to my arm and summoned all the strength I had to reach up and feel the sticky things.

I suppressed a scream. The places where the sticky patches were had been completely shaved off. This place was completely nuts, and I wasn't going to have any of it.

I tried to swing my legs over the bed again, but the ladies wouldn't let me go anywhere. They held down my legs and arms as I thrashed and screamed. There were bonds already attached to the bed, which the two ladies promptly used to secure my flailing limbs.

The older lady that had spoken to me, Beatrice, grabbed a syringe from who knows where and jabbed it into my neck.

In seconds, I could feel the drugs they had forced into my body seep through me. My kicks became more sluggish and I found my energy fading.

A dim light met my eyes, and I realized I had already passed out, and I was just waking up. All around me a misty gray, and I couldn't quite make out what I was standing on, and where it met the air.

A lady stood in front of me, smiling as she looked at me. Her age could have been around young adult to middle aged, but I couldn't tell. Long dark brown hair swirled around her face and shoulders, and her bright blue eyes, almost white, made her look very mystical. Her face was quite perfect, especially bare and without makeup.

I never really got the purpose of makeup. Was it to cover up pimples you just didn't want to deal with, or was it to transform your entire face until you looked like a whole new person? I get that it could make you look prettier, but do you really want to turn your face, something people identify you by, into something that it really isn't?

This made me like the mysterious lady even more, she was genuine, someone I could trust. The lady held her arms out to me, and I wanted nothing else but to run into her arms.

"Mom?" I asked hesitantly, my voice cracking slightly.

Artemis nodded. I walked towards her slowly, touching her fingers to make sure she was real. Just her warmth was enough to make me smile. I basically collapsed in her arms, loving the feel of being hugged. Artemis smelled like the woods on a crisp winter's day. Had I ever been hugged before?

A voice smooth like honey trickled into my ear. "I am so glad to see you again, sweetheart."

My heart grew a thousand times when she called me sweetheart, and it wasn't until then that I realized how wound up I was. I really needed someone to talk to.

I broke our hug to look Artemis straight in the eyes. "Explain everything!"

Artemis laughed, a laugh that rang like wind chimes and echoed through my ears. "Ah, I suppose it is my fault you have such a… special personality." I laughed with her, mother and daughter having a normal chat.

The mist around us had gone gone from light gray to yellow-orange. Artemis must have noticed this also, because she looked worried.

"Tayen, it's almost dawn, so I have to go. I will talk to you as soon as possible, and when you wake up, don't get angry. I do it too, so just keep it calm, ok?"

I narrowed my eyebrows. "Mom, what do you mean?"

The mist around as got brighter and brighter, almost to where it was pure white.

Artemis smiled at me as a tear dripped down her cheek. "Be brave."

Bright light flashed in my eyes, and I was forced to close them. Kaleidoscope colors danced across my eyelids, turning my vision into a fireworks show of rainbows.

Pressure on my arms and legs, and a dull pain in my head warned me that I was waking up from my crazy dream. It seemed as if reality was fading in to replace the brightness, and my senses were getting stronger every second.

A horrible pain started to fill my head, sending one direct thought to my brain. I really did not want to wake up.

* * *

 **I am really sorry for the long wait, and I have no valid excuse. This one is slightly shorter because I really wanted to get it out. More conflicts are coming for Tayen in the next chapter, which I will try to post soon. 3**


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